Obituaries

Activist Lawyer Dies in Utah Plane Crash

An activist lawyer who pioneered the battered spouse defense died last Friday in a Utah plane crash. Lawyer Susan Jordan, 67, was a passenger in a two-seater plane flown by long-time friend John Austin, a health care executive, when it hit a power line and crashed, according to stories by…

Jun 3, 2009 11:26 AM CDT

Boston Police Reopen 20-Year-Old Case of Slain Lawyer

Boston police are reopening the 20-year-old case of a Florida lawyer who was killed after checking into the city’s Lenox Hotel. Karen Edwards, 34, was stabbed in the chest and neck and robbed of $200, the Boston Globe reports. She was in the city for a New England vacation. Police…

Jun 2, 2009 3:52 PM CDT

L.A. Lawyer and Comic Kenneth Kahn Dies After Falling from Mountain in Peru

A Los Angeles criminal defense attorney and comedian has died, after falling while mountain-climbing alone above the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru. Kenneth Kahn, who recently retired from the full-time practice of law, was fulfilling a lifelong ambition to travel to South America. He died Wednesday in a…

Jun 1, 2009 4:45 PM CDT

‘Lilyhill’ Dies of Stroke, ‘Bright Star in Twitterverse’

A paralegal in Philadelphia who was a pioneering commenter on the law on Twitter is being mourned by dozens of followers who feel as though they have lost a close friend. Roberta “Ro” Frazier, best-known by her screen name of “Lilyhill,” died suddenly after experiencing a massive stroke, according to…

May 26, 2009 5:09 PM CDT

Federal Judge David Winder Dies, Renowned for Kindness & Fairness

A retired federal judge renowned for his kindness, hard work and fairness in the courtroom died yesterday after a long illness. David Winder, a former chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Utah, was 76 years old. Asked by a juror after a complex intellectual property rights case had…

May 20, 2009 6:45 PM CDT

Plane Piloted By Ga. Judge Crashes; He and a Passenger are Dead

A Georgia juvenile court judge and one of three young adult passengers on the single-engine plane he was piloting died today when it crashed in an east Alabama hayfield. The two other passengers of Fulton County Juvenile Court Judge Sanford “Sammy” Jones survived with non-life-threatening injuries, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.…

May 16, 2009 12:26 AM CDT

Crowell & Moring Name Partner Dies

Updated: A founder and name partner of the law firm Crowell & Moring has died. John Frederick Moring died earlier this week from pneumonia, reports The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. Moring, who was known as Fred, was 73. Moring helped found Crowell & Moring in 1979 with 52…

May 14, 2009 6:30 PM CDT

Nuremberg War Crimes Prosecutor Henry King Dies at 89

Henry King Jr., one of the last Nuremberg war crimes prosecutors still alive, has died at the age of 89. The cause of death was cancer, King’s son, Dave, told the New York Times. A Yale Law School graduate, King became bored with practice at a New York law firm,…

May 12, 2009 11:14 AM CDT

Disappointments Preceded Suicides by Lawyers at Three Major Law Firms

Job stress and career disappointments are apparently taking a toll on lawyers working in the high-pressure world of large law firms. In the past six months, lawyers working for three major firms have reportedly committed suicide after job or trial losses, the National Law Journal reports. Experts told the publication…

May 11, 2009 12:27 PM CDT

U of Denver Law Prof Dies Today After Bicycle Accident

An assistant professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law died today after a bicycle accident early yesterday. After initially saying in an e-mail to students that 32-year-old Erik Bluemel had been assaulted, law school officials later announced that police had determined he had a bicycle accident early…

May 6, 2009 10:15 PM CDT

25 Years After Fla. Courthouse Shooting, Last Victim Dies

It was a time when courthouse metal detectors and bag searches were not yet commonplace. So when Thomas Provenzano walked into the Orange County Courthouse on Jan. 10, 1984, no one knew that the Florida man, who had a history of mental illness, was carrying three guns. Intending to shoot…

Mar 20, 2009 1:03 AM CDT

Former Attorney General Griffin Bell Dies

Griffin Bell, a former attorney general and federal appeals judge, has died at the age of 90. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Bell’s death today. He was being treated for kidney failure, pneumonia and complications from pancreatic cancer, according to a previous story in the Journal Constitution. Bell was a…

Jan 5, 2009 3:23 PM CST

Al Meyerhoff: Labor Lawyer Who Fought Sweatshops Dies at 61

Al Meyerhoff, a labor lawyer who lead a landmark class-action lawsuit against American clothiers operating sweatshops on the island of Saipan has died of complications from cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 61. Meyerhoff’s suit against retailers, including The Gap, resulted in a $20 million settlement…

Dec 23, 2008 10:55 PM CST

Death Penalty Expert Michael Mello Dies

Vermont Law School Professor Michael Mello, a well-known national expert on the death penalty, died at his home over the weekend after a short illness. He was 51. “He was my colleague for 20 years,” Professor Joan Vogel told the Rutland Herald. “It hasn’t really sunk in to me that…

Nov 25, 2008 5:07 PM CST

RIP: Gerald Margolis, Counsel to Rolling Stones, Robin Williams

Entertainment lawyer and avid surfer Gerald A. Margolis, whose high-profile clients included the Rolling Stones, R. Kelly and Robin Williams, died Sept. 15 at age 65. Margolis was diagnosed six years ago with progressive muscular atrophy and died of complications relating to pneumonia, the Los Angeles Times reports. Margolis was…

Sep 26, 2008 11:12 AM CDT